How long do you leave your henna on?

[ifthemoonsmiled]

Sorry if this is already under discussion. I couldn't find anything about it.

For all you who henna your hair, would you mind sharing how long you leave the mix on your head? I've heard such mixed things about this, and I'm wondering what kind of results you get with different timings.

For myself, I used to leave henna on for a long long time--overnight sometimes, even. I had the idea that it wouldn't take if I gave it less time than that. (I guess, being all about the chemical dyes before that, I had this funny idea that something natural would automatically take forever to work...) Now I leave it on about 2.5 to 3 hours and I get very similar results. It doesn't necessarily get so dark, but I like it that way.

What are your experiences with henna timing?

[Mymagicfairy]

I have done as long as over night ...but now I prefer six hours during the day
I usually do it on a house cleaning day!, so while I clean and do the laundry the henna does it's magic !

[Mairéad]

No more than two hours for me. Maybe only even an hour and a half. That's enough to get a natural looking Irish red on my hair in indoor lighting. It's a bit more crazy in blazing sunlight.

[Sooze]

An hour to an hour and a half is enough for me to get the colour I want. I guess a lot depends on starting colour, whether or not your hair is virgin or previously colour treated, and what type of henna you're using as some seem to dye stronger than others

[CrystalStar]

I have it on overnight, or a minimum of 8 hours. :) I always try to heat it for at least 20-30 minutes as it helps the colour along!

[Guenhwyvar]

I heard only 1-6 hours. Thanks for the information guys, I was wondering this too :)

[Mesmerise]

I do it about 5 hours...while the kids are at school! I find it's a bit annoying to do housework and stuff while it's on my head though lol.

[Amber_Maiden]

I leave it on between 2 and 5 hours, depending on how annoyed I get with the weight of it on my head, and how excited I get about what colour my hair will turn... :p

[CrisDee]

I try to leave mine on overnight, but sometimes the drippies just drive me NUTS in the middle of the night, and I have to get up at like 2:30am and shower and rinse. But I never leave it on less than 5 hours. I only tried a couple times to leave it on during the day and just go about my business, but (1) the dripping almost drove me to distraction, and (2) the extra weight was too much for my damaged neck. I've started adding some sugar to my mix, which has helped cut down the dripping, but I'll still stick to overnight cos of my stupid neck (car accident 20 years ago).

[littlestarface]

I sleep with mine everytime,so about over 10 hours. I get great color everytime.

[ratgirldjh]

I leave mine for 30 minutes to an hour! And I still get excellent gray coverage!

Mine is Reshma Henna.

[Freki]

I usually leave it on for 6 hours. I take a nap and watch movies while it's on, because the weight makes it too uncomfortable to do anything else. I'm always pleased with the color.

[Scarlet_Heart]

6-7 hrs. It's an excuse to stay home all day and watch movies, read, and play video games.

[christine1989]

Wow! People sure leave their henna on a long time! The tub mine comes in says 75 minutes and I leave it on for just that and not a minute longer. It gives me good color and conditioning so I don't see a point in leaving it on longer. For all those who do extra long henna treatments- do you get even better results leaving it on longer?

[allmixedup88]

I leave it on overnight. This is only my third time using henna, but my hair is super auburn now. For some reason I have it in my mind, it must be left on for 6+ hours.

[TheMechaGinger]

Usually 2 to 3 hours for me but I'm taking a break from henna for a while

[aahavaa]

Five to eight hours.

[Nae]

I usually shoot for 3 hours. Last night I tried to sleep with it on but made it too thin and I was getting mad drippies. Even after taking sleeping pills I couldn't sleep with that stuff oozing out everywhere. I went to bed at ten and at 12:30 I couldn't stand it anymore and rinsed. It actually turned out alright at less than three hours I was pleasantly suprised.

[ifthemoonsmiled]

ChrisDee, I have totally jumped in the shower at 2:30 in the morning for exactly the same reason! I don't leave anything runny on my hair overnight anymore--the drippies are just awful.

These are all really interesting answers, & I'm really surprised at how much variation there is in the timing. Personally I really want my natural color to show through a little bit more when I henna, which is why I've been experimenting with decreasing the time. I'm glad to hear that everyone who leaves the henna on shorter amounts of time likes their results. Especially because it's so much easier to leave it on for only an hour or 2! I don't have to devote an entire day to hennaing!

[GoatLady]

I leave mine on for 4 hours, during the day. If I tried to sleep with it on, I'd have a huge mess in the morning.

[akuamoonmaui]

Just an hour, maybe an hour and 15 minutes....

[rogue_psyche]

I leave my henna on anywhere from 3-8 hours. Once I slept in it, but that's not really something I want to do every time. I actually don't like to leave it in longer than 5 hours because then it gets harder to rinse out.

If you want your henna darker, leave it in longer. If you want to stay coppery, there's no need to leave your henna in very long.

[mrs_coffee]

Usually three hours. Sometimes I forget about it and it's longer than that, but three hours is about average.

[littlestarface]

Wow! People sure leave their henna on a long time! The tub mine comes in says 75 minutes and I leave it on for just that and not a minute longer. It gives me good color and conditioning so I don't see a point in leaving it on longer. For all those who do extra long henna treatments- do you get even better results leaving it on longer?
For me I get better results leaving it on 10+ hours I get a beautiful burgandy red and it fades less. I used to only leave it on for 4 to 6 hours but I didnt like the way my hair turned out. Plus I have stuck in my mind the longer you leave it on the more benefits I get out of my henna, conditioning,color etc.

[CopperHead]

6 hours is the magic number for me. :) I get complete root coverage and a great, deep ruby red. :cheese:

[fairystar32]

around 3-4 hrs, but since I got my heat cap 2 ;)

[MagicAndMayhem]

4 hours, though it's hard to wait that long lol

[celebriangel]

I currently do 6, but at the moment that's because my henna/cassia mix doesn't have enough henna in it (I had to do my roots twice to get them to go auburn from brown). I'm going to increase the amount of henna and see if I can get it down to 1 application and a shorter time.

I think I would still go 4 hours or so for staying power/conditioning benefits.

[Mesmerise]

Wow! People sure leave their henna on a long time! The tub mine comes in says 75 minutes and I leave it on for just that and not a minute longer. It gives me good color and conditioning so I don't see a point in leaving it on longer. For all those who do extra long henna treatments- do you get even better results leaving it on longer?

If it comes in a tub then it's probably not pure henna, but more likely henna mixed with other stuff. As long as it does a good job, though, it shouldn't matter how long you're leaving it for!

I have honestly never left mine on for less than 4 hours... even when I first used henna (about 22 years ago now EEP) I left it on that long (cause that's what it said on the packet).

However, I did a henna gloss on my daughter and she got bored of it after an hour or so, and she still got a nice colour from the gloss (which was pretty dilute).

[k8tea]

I leave mine on overnight...use 1/2 tsp xanthan gum for a dripless mixture...and a towel over my pillow. I have stubborn gray (actually white) hairs which need a long time to get beyond orangey-red...even doing that I have to cross my fingers that it'll get dark enough after oxidising.

[Redbeetle36]

I left mine on overnight last night, so probably about 10 hours and the colour this morning was great, I want more red and I think after oxidation it'll be exactly what I want. The dripping did annoy me though and I could have easily got up about 2am and rinsed it off but I waited til 6. I'm not sure I'd want to do it overnight again but I probably will just to get the colour I want. The things we do...!

[woolyleprechaun]

I leave it on while the kiddies are at school and nobody can take the mickey out of my bag and turban. I tend to favour about 3hours, any longer and I get a purplish tinge that makes my skin look like cheese.:cheese:

[Marz Hase]

When I was using Yemeni, it was always overnight... 8-10 hours. With Henna Hut, it's only 2 hours. If I switch to Celebration, I'll go back to an 8-10 hour application.

[Pierre]

I leave it on overnight, which is 6-8 hours.

[Of the Fae]

I usually leave it on between 2 and 5 hours

[ShiningStar]

I leave it on my hair for 3 hours. my hair is very long and thick, it becomes heavy when i put henna

[lokiveil]

I have left mine on from 1 hour to overnight (though that is only 6 hours for me due to kids and stupid bird outside waking me up, lol). Even the 1 hour gave me great color, but now I try to leave it on as long as possible for the conditioning effects. With my hair at least the longer I leave it on the thicker my hair gets. I have extremely baby fine hair, but a TON of it. Before I had a ponytail of only 1 1/2".... now it is 3 1/4" My hair has never felt better, and for the first time in my life I can curl my hair (rag curls, not risking heat on my baby, lol), and they stay....... I had even permed my hair before, what did I have 3 days later, straight frizzy hair. Now the rag curls stay until I wash my hair again and I can put a TON of coconut oil in my hair (before even the tiniest amount made it look horribly greasy) :cheese:

[ladylowtide]

I do between 2 and 3 hours. If you let the dye release before hand then it takes less time on your head.

[PurplePenguin]

Well I have only henna'ed my hair once and I left it on for about 6 hours. I didn't really like the color I got but it was a cassia/henna mix. This next time I think I will go for only 3 hours and see what I get - that henna gets rather heavy and itchy after some time. rogue_psyche I really love your color!

[Zapookie]

I leave mine on for about 4-6 hours. I used red raj for my last two applications. I didn't wash my hair for about 3 days after doing it, but once I washed after the first application, the colour faded a little. :( I just did my second 2 days ago, so tomorrow I'll wash again and see what happens.

[OOnaOwl]

I leave it on all night while I sleep. I apply it just before bed, then don a plastic bag and stocking cap over the top. I rinse it when I get up in the morning. I have been doing it this way for years, but may soon experiment with letting the dye release first before application to reduce the time.

[hootski]

I leave my Moroccan henna on for 7-8 hours. I'd like to try having it on overnight, but I worry about not getting a good solid night's sleep. I'll have to try it some time and see, I like the sounds of killing two birds with one stone!

[meeliah]

I leave mine on anywhere from 2-5 hours depending on how much time I have. I was planning on doing it again tomorrow and trying to leave it on longer. I guess I'd better run by the video store tonight so I have plenty to keep me occupied or I'll never hold out. Oh, that reminds me, I need to run by the hardware store and get a hose. I think its warm enough to start rinsing in the yard. My tub and plumbing are old and I worry about too much buildup in the pipes and on the porous tube. Its taking longer and longer to drain each time.

[malwes]

Usually between 3 to 5 hours. My hair are naturally very dark and this time is quite enough to cover my grays as well as give my dark hair some red lights. Sometimes I do hendigo as a second step so it is usually another 2 hours for roots only (1/4 henna and 3/4 indigo).

[Nellon]

When I first did it I left it on overnight, and I just loved how good my hair felt afterwards. I didn't get much dripping... Made it into a thicker paste perhaps? and then put a plastic bag on my head, tied it and then put another bag made of fabric on top of that (or a knitted hat). Then slept happily all night ;)

However now I'm experimenting with leaving henna glosses for half an hour on my roots to try to lighten it up as it grows out. I'm blonde and the deep red was a little too dark for my white white skin! :)

[Nellon]

Sorry, remembered. If u wanna sleep with henna overnight I'd say make it a little less runny, wear a hat over a shower cap, and a towel on your pillow. This is my best advice.

[swearnsue]

I leave it on for at least 4 hours and usually for 5 especially if I can get a nap in. It's interesting that people are getting good results with less time.

[Littlewing13]

I cant handle leaving it on for more than 2hrs. Usually 1hr. It annoys me. I'd rather do it more often anyways for conditioning.

[Majala]

I did it just once for now and left it on for 2,5 hours. I wasn't too concerned about the color as I was doing indigo next - my goal was black hair.

[auburntressed]

I leave mine in for 4-6 hours. I try to lay down and nap if I can, because it is very difficult for me to fit my glasses on when my ears are partially wrapped up with my head. And not wearing glasses will give me a headache in about fifteen minutes flat. So I try to lay down, close my eyes, listen to music. Then nap. I set my timer for six hours each time, but if I wake up before it goes off, and see that it's been at least four hours, I'll go ahead and rinse anyways.

[Qadupae]

I don't henna anymore, but when I used to do it regularly, I would leave it in for 2 hours while I was doing chores around the house. Probably could have gotten away with 1.5 hours, but I usually ended up forgetting it was there after a while ^_^

[Laboheme]

I leave mine on for 4-5 hours, and get a nice color and great conditioning. I use henna mainly for the conditioning, I wonder if leaving it longer makes a difference. Will try next time!

[Mrsbaybeegurl]

I do mine overnight at a minimum of 5-6 hours. Once it's on my head I am bed bound, I can't do anything for fear of dribbles. After it's all sealed up on my head I cover my head with a towel, cover my pillow case with a plastic bag, lay a towel over that and lay down in one position until I wake up in the morning lol usually after about 5 or 6 hours it somehow seems to get very thin and runny and starts dribbling onto my neck and that's what wakes me up, I hop in the shower rinse it all out and usually go back to bed until the sun comes up ;)

It's totally worth it and I only do it several times a year versus every 4-6 weeks like I had to do with my blonde so I guess you can say it averages out to be the same time investment with the exception that I can peacefully sleep with my henna on and the longer it's there the better it is for my hair lol

[henné]

Wow! Some of you guys leave it on really long! It honestly never even occurred to me to leave it on for so long as I'd definitely destroy my bedsheets and whatever else around the house as it ALWAYS drips through no matter what precautions I take :D

THis is what I do (and I've been coloring with henna for a decade): Mix henna with lemon or lime or apple cider vinegar and some nettle tea, let it sit for circa 12 hours. After I put the mixture on my hair, I leave it in for max. 3 hours. The results are always great.

:)

[MoonLover]

2-4 hours. Overnight never really worked for me since I couldn't sleep with plastic crinkling under me

[Viola88]

Just 2 hours for me

[pinkb21]

I think I'm going to leave it on over night tonight... I'm just doing my roots and a few hours Dosent get it to the color I want

[meeliah]

I left mine on for 7 hours on Saturday. It is really saturated. I can't decide if I like it more or less. It's really brilliant in sunlight, but looks really dark in regular light. I did get a compliment on it.

Of course, I always tweek my recipe a bit so I don't know if the changes are due to the extra time or the changes. I've been freezing and thawing for more dye release and this is the first time I really loaded it down with conditioner. I also put a few tablespoons of honey in it.

This is the loosest I've ever mixed it and the drips were driving me crazy. I ended up with paper towels shoved all around the front of my shower cap and I know I looked utterly rediculous.

[CopperHead]

I have a load of mud on my head right now. :) I usually leave it on at least six hours but have gone over seven before. One hour down, five more to go. ;)

[pinkb21]

Does anyone just do roots on weekly?? I was considering doing that since my hair is dark and my roots are so light.

[Shatam1]

Does anyone just do roots on weekly?? I was considering doing that since my hair is dark and my roots are so light.
I do roots every two weeks because I have the same problem as you. Now I am trying to go longer between hennas so I add a bit of vampire red from Manic Panic on my roots in between. It works great for me:)

[Intotouch]

I do roots every two weeks but I cheat a bit. I only do easy to see roots after two weeks and then all roots two weeks after that.

I leave my henna mix on for one and a half hours. I don't do any funny wait period either. I add some to yogurt and that's that.

[Beckstar]

18+ hours.

[kyraninse]

18+!!

How?

[longNred]

3-4 hours works for me.

[Kittykins]

I leave mine in for at least 3-4 hours.

[Shatam1]

Three to four hours max:toast:

[JellyBene]

Overnight simply due to the inconvenience of having to wash it out after a few hours.

[11eleven]

The longest I've ever left Henna on was for 14hrs. Most of the time I leave it on between 10 to 12hrs.

[Phexlyn]

Usually 2 hours, sometimes only one and a half, depending on what colour intensity I want. I can't be bothered to keep that stuff on my head much longer because I always do it in the evening and I need my beauty sleep ;)

[Vlientje]

I used to do 8 to 10 hours, but once I only had time for 6 and that seemed quite fine as well, so now I only do 6, and I am very happy with that, haha :D

[Saeth]

1 and a half hours to 2hrs. It depends on drippies. Honestly though I couldn't leave it for longer than 3 with a very well behaved mixture. It weighs a lot! My hair is plenty dark enough even with being fairly light naturally so it works for me :)

[WantMoreHair]

Four to six hours. I have stubborn greys that need the extra time.

[nesser33]

I have left it on overnight as well as for only 4-6 hours, and I've found that the color fades on my hair if I don't leave it on overnight.

[Littlewing13]

No more than 2hrs, usually only one. But Im going for a lighter henna. And I'd prefer to henna more often for conditioning.

[julierockhead]

As long as I can! Almost always overnight, 9 or 10 hours.

[elisam]

I used to leave it overnight, so at least 10 hours

[Hexana]

When I started I left it in through the night, now I only do 1h, because I want it a bit lighter.

[ophelia]

I leave mine on overnight, so 7-8 hours for me. I'm going for as much dye absorption as possible. Plus I'm excited about getting up right away in the morning to see how it worked.

[BorealBacchante]

When I first began doing henna my hair was a bit damaged from salon dye (no bleach) and heat styling. Probably better condition than "average" hair being treated conventionally, but not at all LHC levels of healthy. I feel like it had better henna uptake at that time! I would leave my henna on for just a couple hours, and it was very intense. It didn't seem to matter if my hair was wet, dry, oily, covered in silicone, clean etc. I got great, intense color every time. Just 2-3 hours usually.
Now that what remains of my hair is in fantastic condition. I leave it on for much longer, as long as I can stand. I'm not sure if it's the healthier cuticle, the lack of applied heat, or the overall darker color of my hair when it's healthy, but a couple hours just doesn't cut it anymore.
So now anywhere from 6 to 10 hours. I try to shoot for eight.

[C_Bookworm]

I’m another overnighter, usually in about the 6-8 hour range. Since I am shooting for the darkest color possible with 2-step henndigo, it’s important to me to get a nice rich henna base.

[hennalonghair]

It’s been 5 years since I’ve hennaed but when I did I’d leave it anywhere from 2 hours to 8 hours depending on the henna.

[shelomit]

Our practice has always been to leave it on for at least three hours, but to rinse it out before it gets dry. It's such a hassle to rinse out dry henna : P Typically put it on mid-morning on a weekend and rinse out in the afternoon.

[Zanthia]

This thread is so surprising. I aim for an hour and sometimes it ends up being more like an hour and a quarter or an hour and a half.

I only let the dye release (just henna in slightly warm water) for 15-30 minutes, too.

I wonder if henna quality is something to do with it? I have chestnut brown hair that's going very grey and I get perfect coverage in an hour, so it's not about having dark or grey hair.

I would find the times in this thread extremely drying. Maybe I have dry (porous?) hair and it takes the henna better for that reason? Even so, I always aim to henna my hair when it needs washing or it gets so dry I can't stand it.

[Inazina]

I'm doing strong glosses (half overnight released henna and half deep moisturising mask) and leave them between two and four hours. This covers well my brown hair and the few gray ones.

[Carol92]

I leave it about 4 hours. I think it gives me a nice stain. But if the day is colder, the "mud" is not dripping and I'm comfortable with it, I can leave for longer.

[Fimu]

Usually 3.5 - 4 hours. I have high-porosity hair and use Raj henna powder with water (no acidic additives).

[Morphinea]

I try to leave it at least three hours minimum, sometimes almost six. Usually I get headache because my head feels so heavy so three hours is average.

[Helleborus]

I have left it on for anywhere from 1.5-5 hours. The last time I did a treatment I used red raj and I left it in for 3.5 hours, but I honestly could have rinsed it out earlier the dye got my hair a bit darker than I expected as it was on top of my lighter copper red henna colour i had previously.

[Leeni]

I did it just two times and left it on for four hours. But unfortunately, red hair is not for me and now I'm trying to remove it